Each horror game takes a different approach regarding its presentation. Some are slow-paced and atmospheric, while others focus on thrilling action and combat. Still, both schools of thought generally employ jump scares to some extent. The degree to which they are utilized greatly differentiates one game from the next.
Although jump scares can certainly be executed well, they are by no means mandatory for a horror game to be successful. Many try to double down on the atmosphere, building tension, or the plot itself. In these examples, jump scares are only a single spoke in the wheel, employed sparingly without being completely overdone.
Updated November 23, 2022 by Mark Hospodar: Horror games are perfect for getting the blood pumping. The genre itself is huge and every game takes a slightly different approach to how it conveys horror tropes. Unsurprisingly, jump scares tend to feature heavily.
Despite its common usage in the industry, not every game decides to rely on jump scares exclusively. Some games trust their atmosphere to do the heavy lifting. When pulled off well, the result is often a memorable horror experience that strikes the player to their core. This list has been expanded to include a few more excellent entries that fans shouldn't ignore.
13 The Closing Shift
Games developed by the Chilla's Art team tend to be creepy, goosebump-inducing experiences. One of their more recent releases, The Closing Shift, is a great example of why jump scares aren't always needed in a horror game. The realistic premise of the game also hits close to home.
Fans play as a coffee shop employee who must serve late-night customers by brewing drinks. However, an aggressive stalker quietly waits in the wings. Overall, The Closing Shift is pretty tense. Players are lulled into a false sense of security through the mundane repetition of their routine. That security is shattered once things start taking a darker turn.
12 Fears To Fathom
The title for this one is very apt. Fears to Fathom is an episodic horror series that is currently comprised of two entries: Home Alone and Norwood Hitchhike. These games drip with a low-burning intensity that sets players on the edge of their seats. Once again, the realistic nature of each game's premise only serves to heighten the level of anxiety.
Home Alone deals with a young boy who experiences a home invasion while his parents are out of the house. Norwood Hitchhike centers around a dodgy motel with some rather strange residents. Both episodes are short and don't overstay their welcome. Because of this, the episodes of Fears to Fathom are incredibly effective at letting the player's imagination run wild...until real danger strikes.
11 Iron Lung
Like the previous entry, Iron Lung is a horror game that uses every minute of its short runtime to maximum effect. Iron Lung is a claustrophobic affair that takes place in a submarine exploring the depths of a huge sea of blood. Players only have a limited supply of oxygen to complete their objective of documenting what lies beneath the blood sea.
Many of the best horror games allow players ample opportunities to scare themselves through their own imaginations. Iron Lung accomplishes this feat through the clever use of sound and the grainy use of photographs. It's a neat game that relies on its atmosphere to the fullest, resulting in a truly disturbing adventure.
10 SOMA
Frictional Games possesses a well-deserved positive reputation when it comes to delivering satisfying horror titles. Like Amnesia: The Dark Descent before it, SOMA is great at building tension. Terrifying players with unseen terrors lurking around the corner is what the developers do best.
One of SOMA's other measurable strengths is its storytelling. The game doesn't shy away from asking genuinely thought-provoking questions about people's identities and humanity. All of this and much more are accomplished beautifully while keeping the jump scares to a minimum.
9 Bioshock
When talking about building atmosphere, it's hard to ignore the original Bioshock. The story takes place in Rapture, an underwater city where most inhabitants have lost their minds due to constant infighting, a breakdown of authority, and rampant plasmid addiction.
Each section of Rapture possesses its own identity, along with its own set of dangers. The Medical Pavilion, for example, is a macabre spectacle of body horror, overseen by a homicidal plastic surgeon. With supplies never consistently plentiful, players are forced to be ever vigilant against the threat of wandering maniacs roaming the halls. The inability to let one's guard down even for a moment is palpable.
8 Little Nightmares 1 & 2
Horror platformers can be just as intense as any first-person experience. One of the more notable examples is the two-part Little Nightmares series. Both entries deliver satisfying platforming gameplay, but it's their clever use of disturbing imagery that really makes them memorable.
The monsters in these games are best characterized as twisted caricatures of real people. Escaping from them can be stressful, especially since they often make sudden, unwanted appearances. Everything is presented skilfully in all its gloomy ugliness. Very few "cheap" scares populate Little Nightmares.
7 World Of Horror
World of Horror is a very apt name for this game. Its artistic style is striking, making use of a black-and-white hand-drawn aesthetic. Fans are tasked with halting the impending end of the world by battling otherworldly monsters in turn-based combat.
A lot of the imagery in this game is genuinely unnerving. The old-school adventure game mechanics World of Horror utilizes don't lend themselves well to constant jump scares. Rather, it's the inevitable buildup of unease a player experiences while confronting a new threat that makes this game so tense.
6 Visage
To say that there are many P.T.-inspired derivatives would be an understatement. However, Visage perhaps came the closest to realizing the kind of horror that P.T. promised. As such, the game is primarily a psychological horror piece, one where the protagonist's reality is regularly called into question.
Visage does incorporate jump scares throughout its presentation; however, they don't form an overwhelming aspect of the gameplay. Visage is meant to be more of a slow burn, letting the player's imagination run wild a bit first before unleashing its full bag of tricks.
5 Silent Hill 2
Admittedly, none of the Silent Hill games overly rely on jump scares. Silent Hill 2, like most other titles in the franchise, blends elements of both supernatural and psychological horror. The second entry is widely regarded as the best in the series for pulling off this fusion so well.
Silent Hill 2 witnesses some of James Sunderland's worst fears and regrets come to life. The result is one chilling encounter after another, along with enough grisly imagery that fans won't soon forget. Who needs jump scares when you have Pyramid Head?
4 Stories Untold
Stories Untold is an episodic collection of unsettling tales. The object of the game as a whole is to solve a series of puzzles, during which there is a conspicuous escalation of tension. That feeling of growing dread is arguably most effective in the first episode, "The House Abandon."
In "The House Abandon," the protagonist begins playing a text-based computer game. Eerily, the environment in the "real world" begins to mimic the actions taken in the computer game. The proceedings hit a climax when the protagonist starts to hear footsteps ascending the staircase. It's remarkably well done, scaring players by getting inside their own heads.
3 Sanitarium
Sanitarium is quite a trip. Released in 1998 for the PC, Sanitarium utilizes a top-down perspective as players take control of an amnesiac man who awakens inside a mental hospital. Fans are tasked with uncovering the backstory of the protagonist as they navigate their bizarre surroundings.
To say that the game is weird is a bit of an understatement. There's plenty of outlandish imagery on display to keep players uneasy as they try to piece together the story. Though it definitely looks dated today, Sanitarium is still worth checking out despite its antiquated visuals.
2 Lost In Vivo
Lost in Vivo is an indie horror game that attempts to double down on its claustrophobic elements. When the protagonist's dog falls into a storm drain, the player must brave the confined surroundings of the sewer. A motley assortment of nightmarish beings is encountered along the way.
Lost in Vivo is an example of a game that employs effective sound design. Moments of dead silence are eventually interrupted by various unsettling noises. One example of this is illustrated at the beginning of the game. As the protagonist whistles for his dog, a bone-chilling whistle can be heard in return from an unseen stranger.
1 Darkwood
Darkwood is yet another example of a top-down perspective horror game that exploits its atmosphere to the very limit. The object of the game is to collect resources during the day to craft useful items integral to the player's survival. When darkness falls, the objective is to simply survive until the next morning.
It's these nighttime encounters that are the scariest. The player's hideout will be assaulted by a collection of frightening interlopers. Once again, sound often plays a huge role in this regard. Hearing a knock at the door or the creaking of wood is just as unsettling as confronting an actual threat.